Standing My Ground

Author’s Note: This is an essay about the theme “bravery” as shown through Jason in Vampire Beach. These examples demonstrate how bravery can help you , and others.

Charging at the cold blooded beast that almost killed Jason, his emotions were mixed as he ran towards the vampire. Jason knocked the monster off of Zach, saving his life. Running at Luke and knocking him off Zach could be a life or death situation, lucky it worked out. The rouge vampire went for Jason forgetting that Zach was behind him, this small mistake caused Luke’s death.  In the book, Vampire Beach, by Alex Duval, the theme that is woven throughout the book is bravery.

When Jason secretly saved his friend from being killed by the vampire council, I though it took immense bravery. I believe this because, Jason didn’t think about how he was putting himself in harm’s way, all he could think about way saving his best friend. Just like in Cold Kiss, Gabriel didn’t care if he was putting himself in harm, he wanted to help the one he cared for. Wren had troubles with life, she kept it to herself and she needed someone there, yet there was no one. Gabriel came into her life, and helped her through everything. Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to self-sacrifice.

Once Jason sent Tyler safely on his way back to Michigan, he had to be the hero and fix Tyler’s mess. This makes me think about how much farther Jason will go to correct a wrong. He helped Tyler get away, and helped the vampire council get the challis back in the correct hands. As brave as Jason is, the vampire council can be very intimidating, but this didn’t hinder Jason from correcting Tyler’s error. Just like in the book They Don’t Know About Us, Niall helped Nicole. Niall had to take a massive step and send Nicole to therapy. Making Nicole go to therapy was the last thing Niall wanted to do, but he had to. This made Niall and Nicole drift apart, but she came around towards the end. Bravery is believing your doing the right thing against all odds, and that nobody can teach you. 

Jason the main character from the novel Vampire Beach built up bravery as the story advanced. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, and just as much to stand up to our friends. I don't think that bravery is about skin. Bravery is about a willingness to show emotional need.

Changing My Ways

Swoosh! The unremarkable feeling and sound of diving in the water hits Jason right away. In a massive hurry, Jason has to finish his breaststroke. With every hit to the water, a rush of amazing excitement flows through his body like the feeling you get when you have the chills. In the book, Vampire Beach, by Alex Duval, the one theme I strongly remember is, bravery.

The rage filled up in  Jason, when he figured out he had to move to DeVere Heights. Nothing can stop him now, his parents have decided, and they are moving. Losing friends, and having to gang new friends is hard. Although he hated the idea of moving, his little sister Dani was worse than him. Dani had been crying for days, not coming out of her room, Jason decided that he had to be a strong older brother and not show that he wanted to cry too.

Once moved, Jason found out quickly that DeVere Heights isn’t too bad. Right away Jason had fallen hopelessly for a girl just by bumping into her. Found friends quickly, and is one of the new popular boys at school. Invited to parties right away. Dani went to the same party as  Jason. The next day, Jason was running in the morning, on the beach. There lies the body of Carrie- a girl in Jason’s grade- eyes open, no heart beat. Dead. There stood Jason, scared out of his mind. Water forming in his eyes, not knowing what to do. Call the police!

Still terrified on what happened to Carrie, Jason has the urge to figure out what happen to Carrie. Having dealt with the situation with Carrie, Jason’s friend Tyler came to visit. Tyler  came  at a very unexpected time, and caused lots of troubles in DeVere Heights. Now acting strange, Jason questions his appearance. Taking Tyler to a party was the last thing that Jason wanted to do, but Jason’s school friends wanted him to. After stealing from the richest kid in the school, Tyler was death bound. Jason taking the key role in saving his life, getting him out of DeVere Heights was the first step to be done. Also getting back the valuables that he stole, was the second. Sticking up for his friends was the right thing to do and he stood strong with Tyler through the thick and the thin.

Whether it is staying strong for your friend, sister, or just staying strong for yourself. Jason showed tremendous bravery. Although not everything went his way, he impacted many people’s lives.  Such as Tyler’s, Dani’s, and most important his own life. 

Feelings?

Sweat dripping down my face as I am calling for the ball. Giving hand gestures to my teammates. HERE! I scream at the top of my lungs. Making my run towards the goal, the defender pushing against my back; rain sprinkling down upon us, the heat of the two players jammed against each other. The very moment my mate realizes that I am open, the pass comes with a hard kick; I am ready to receive. It was a dark day; the sun hadn’t been out, raining non-stop. It was the energy raging inside of me that made me receive the ball, turn and let the hammer swing. Physical heath provides me with enjoyment, challenge, and social interaction.

Gold medals aren't really made of gold. They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find guts. The enjoyment that my sports bring to me is magnificent. The time I spend at soccer, basketball, and softball practice. It may just be me, but the happiness that learning new things bring to me is huge. Being taught new things make my life, I believe that I am smart but there is always more to learn!

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. The things we fail in we can always learn in, everything happens for a reason. Challenges that I have in all my three sports is: your good, but do you want, do you care to put in more time to make you that much better? My answer is always yes, most days of the week I have some sort of practice, but the days I don’t I always go outside with my soccer ball and practice moves, juggling, and juggle walking. Sometimes I take a softball bat and I practice my swing, locked knee, use hips, and don’t pull your head out.

Although the challenge is quite fun, I think the most interesting thing is the new friends you can make just from a sport. I know this very well because I am on a Merton Fillies softball team, I am the only Pewaukee girl. On my softball team I have girls from Sussex, Merton, and even more! Our team has so much fun together, they are like my sisters, yet only two people go to the same school, the rest of us are different. Also like this my soccer team has three Waukesha girls, and about six Sussex girls, and the rest of us are Pewaukee. Although you would think that I get along better with my soccer team because I know more than half the girls, this is not true. Soccer girls haven’t quite jelled in yet, we don’t act as one team. I am trying to help this happen, to help everyone get along. There isn’t like a hatred between any girls it just that I don’t think that we are completely comfortable with the girls.

Sports to me are a huge deal to me in many ways as you can see. I love the sports I play and I hope that everyone has at least one sporting event that they can completely fall in love with. No one has really asked me this question, and it is a simple answer. I love my sports and I would never trade them in for anything!